1) Suleikha, if you could create a magical chimera, what animals would you combine?

Hmmm. Tough question. How about a kitten, an African grey parrot, and an otter. Mind you, I have no idea what it would look like, but it would be smart, chatty and extremely cute.

2) Susan: Deep sea or deep space exploration?

I’m TERRIFED of the ocean. I’ve almost drowned twice (once parasailing, being dipped, and not being able to be pulled back up! and another time bodyboarding too close to a pier!). So, I think deep sea would paralyze me. But, I don’t have much desire to go into the black of space either! I guess I’m kind of a chicken when it comes to the unknown!

3) Geoff: Red Vines or Twizzlers?

Twizzlers. Duh.

4) What is your favorite word, Poppy?

I embrace the Southern tradition of backhanded insults so my favorites are usually phrases that accomplish that. You’ll catch me saying things like “Bless your heart” and “Isn’t that precious?” And, like many other Southern women, if you hear me say “Oh hell no” you’d better run! LOL

5) You get an unlimited budget, but only for one room, Elizah – which room would you make over?

The bathroom, no question. I sometimes actively fantasize about having a large, super fancy bathroom oasis. One of these fifty bathrooms for example. A gigantic tub and a fireplace, are you kidding me? And heated floor tiles, of course. This is the dream, friends. (#dreamer bathroom?)

Friday Fun Five is a weekly feature hosted by Elle Brownlee where she poses a different batch of five fun questions to various people in the writing world.

To know more about Geoff Symon, check out www.geoffsymon.com or see what he’s up to on twitter (@GeoffSymon). He offers authors of all genres classes and personalized consultation on criminal investigation and forensics. His upcoming classes include SavvyAuthors and an in-person workshop at ThrillerFest this July.

1) If you could wipe your memory of any book so you could read it as brand new, what book would you choose?

My college Statistics textbook? Because if I picked it up as fresh now, I know I’d be all “What the hell is THAT????” and not waste memory space on it. 🙂

Seriously, I think I’d choose To Kill a Mockingbird. The truths in that book are still so relevant today. Every time I read it (which is often) I experience the world building and anxiety and sweetness and horror as if it were my first time anyway.

2) Time travel: Go back through history or forward into the future?

The fantasized version I have of myself is where I’d pick the future. I’d be a Captain Kirk/Frodo Baggins/Buckaroo Banzai and discover new lands/tech/cultures… but the truth of the matter is I know I’m actually a control freak who likes all of his ducks in a (very straight and precise) row, with no surprises around the corner. So if I’m being honest, I’d choose the past every time.

3) Red Vines or Twizzlers?

Twizzlers. Duh.

4) What is your favorite word?

Hence. We don’t have near enough hences anymore. (I’m German, so Schadenfreude is a close close second.)

5) Any obscure and quirky subjects you are fascinated with and thus read and research obsessively?

The physics of super-heroics. If a man was given the power of flight, how high could he really go before he blacked out from lack of oxygen or hypothermia? If he was invulnerable would he be able to feel a pencil enough so that he didn’t snap it every time he tried to write? If you’re in the Arctic would it be better to be the Human Torch where you generate heat for yourself or Ice Man where cold is your norm? You know — the kind of questions everyone asks/researches! Well either that or how to get viable fingerprints off of a deceased person in various stages of decomposition. But that’s not quirky.

…Right?

Geoff Symon is a 20-year Federal Forensic Investigator and Polygraph Examiner. His participation in high-profile cases includes the attacks on September 11, 2001, the War in Iraq, the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion, the 2002 bombings in Bali and the Chandra Levy investigation, among countless other cases. He has direct, first-hand experience investigating cases including murder (of all types), suicide, arson, kidnapping, bombings, sexual assault, child exploitation, theft and financial crimes. He has specified and certified training in the collection and preservation of evidence, blood-spatter analysis, autopsies and laboratory techniques. Today he uses this expertise to aid genre fiction authors in making their works vivid and factual.